


shot thru the heart

by sujiverse



Series: hanlimverse [1]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, ft. rocky from astro, i refuse to accept the fact that no one has written about this iconic hanlim alliance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 18:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16372490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sujiverse/pseuds/sujiverse
Summary: "I've literally been in love with you for three years."Record scratch. Freeze frame. You're probably wondering how Jiwoo and Jungeun got into this situation. Let's rewind.





	shot thru the heart

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by: [this](https://youtu.be/6YkPvm0IeqE)
> 
> title from twice's song of the same name. highly recommended, 10/10.

 

For all the years Jiwoo has known her, Joowon has been somewhat of an over-reactor. That being said, she still gets a nasty shock when the girl spits out the coffee she's drinking after hearing the words "I think I like Jungeun" come out of Jiwoo's mouth.

 

"KIM JIWOO!" Joowon yelps. Ignoring the growing stain on her shirt, she pulls her own chair closer to the table. "You like who now?"

 

"Your shirt- nevermind. I said I like Jungeun. Kim Jungeun. Our Jungeun."

 

_Wow. It is strange hearing that come out of my own mouth._

 

"You guys have been friends for three years," she points out. "And you just suddenly knew. Like, out of nowhere?"

 

Jiwoo recalls what she now likes to refer to as _The Incident_ ; she recites it in perfect detail. Jungeun, Yerim and her were at the karaoke place they frequent after school. When it was Jungeun's turn to sing, she picks one of Jiwoo's favourites-- Paper Hearts, and sings it beautifully. And then, with the soft orange light of the dingy room illuminating her face, Jungeun turns and sings straight to Jiwoo.

 

_I hate this part, paper hearts_

 

There was no mistaking it. Her eyes were focused on Jiwoo, and Jiwoo only.

 

_And I'll hold a piece of yours_

 

Her heart races, and her faces grows hotter. She feels herself burning up under Jungeun's gaze, and has to look away. Before the end of the song, she had come up with the lamest of excuses (her brother needed help with homework) and bolted out of the room.

 

"You're kidding me," Joowon laughs. She picks up her cup of coffee and takes a swig of it like she would an alcoholic drink. She points a finger at Jiwoo, "you only just started finding her attractive three years after you guys have known each other?"

 

Jiwoo crosses her arms, leaning back into her chair. "I don't know. We've just been best friends all this while. Also, I couldn't sleep that night."

 

"I doubt you'd be able to tonight, either."

 

_Unable to sleep, Jiwoo scrolls through Instagram to find some entertainment in the dead of the night._

 

_She doesn't want to brag, but she is pretty popular on Instagram. If being asked to do product placements and her flooded DMs were a measure of success, Jiwoo would be the poster child for it. Except, she was just a poster child for, well, organic skincare products._

 

_Suddenly, the thought of looking up Jungeun's account invades her head. She tries her best to ignore it, but there's a reason why she hasn't been able to sleep all night._

 

_February 10, 2017_

_@k_jungeun: we traded ties on my birthday and i think it's safe to say that we chose the right look for ourselves_

 

_It's a picture of them, fixing each other's ties. Jungeun had worn Jiwoo's ribbon tie as a joke, and kept claiming that she looked terrible in it. Looking back now, Jiwoo thinks she looks absolutely adorable._

 

_She manages to not fall off the bed which how much kicking she does after that word and that face once again, invades her mind. Her blanket is on the floor, and she picks it back up, but not without an annoyed sigh._

 

_She just had to fall for her, didn't she? She just had to._

 

_In the midst of her thirty-first wave of panic just from thinking about Jungeun, her alarm rings obnoxiously. It's time for school. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. If anything, her Shakespearean tragedy of a life just got way more tragic._

 

 

 

"Wait, she didn't question you on why you left the karaoke session so fast?" Joowon asks. "You and Yerim usually don't put down the mic till sundown."

 

"She did and I um, well," Jiwoo puts a finger on her chin. "I kinda blew her off?"

 

 

 

_School is the same-old tale; she waltzes in with Yerim and Yeonjung by her side because they usually reach around the same time as her. People line up along the hallways just to hand them gifts, and they accept them, even from the boys even though none of them were interesting enough to look at. Jiwoo even rolls her eyes when this guy from the next class acts like he's about to faint when Yeonjung takes the chocolate bar from him and accidentally grazes her hand._

 

_One of the downsides of being popular, however, is the amount of gifts she doesn't need. She declutters the presents placed on her table and hands them out to the classmates around her. Minhyuk, bless his soul, helps her finish the terrible tasting banana milk._

 

_Strawberry milk is better, she thinks, opening up the carton she bought for herself on the way to school._

 

_"Kim Jiwoo."_

 

_Startled, she almost gets whiplash from throwing her head forward way too fast. The strawberry milk still in her mouth, she manages to keep it in long enough to swallow. Jungeun just blinks at her from across the table._

 

_"Why did you disappear that day, at the karaoke?" The girl asks, opening a packet of chocopie on Jiwoo's table and helping herself to it._

 

_"Just," Jiwoo replies quickly, not trusting herself to speak in longer sentences. "My uh, brother."_

 

_"You're so damn weird nowadays." Jungeun continues with a mouthful of chocopie, "are you sick?"_

 

_Her hand reaches over to touch her forehead, and she tries to slap it away. It doesn't work. The same thing happens: her heart races, and she feels heat rushing into her cheeks._

 

_"You're burning up, and your ears are so red. I think you need to go to the nurse," Jungeun mumbles. "Seems like a fever..."_

 

_Jiwoo finally manages to pluck the persistent hand off her face._

 

_"Stop it," she says with as much finality as possible, pulling out her textbook to read so that Jungeun would leave her alone._

 

_And she does._

 

 

 

"I thought I was overreacting, you know? Maybe having feelings for her wasn't that big a deal."

 

Joowon takes another swig of her coffee. "Have you tried-" she places her hands on the table, and raises her eyebrows, deliberately pausing for emphasis. "-flirting?"

 

Jiwoo looks down to her hands in her lap, ashamed to admit that yes, yes, damn it, she has.

 

 

 

_"Dude, it's burgers for lunch today. You're gonna regret not coming to the cafeteria," Jungeun says with excitement, sitting down beside her on the bench._

 

_Jiwoo doesn't process a word of what she's saying._

 

_"What do you think of her?" Jiwoo asks, impatiently shoving her phone into Jungeun's hands and showing a picture. "Her name is Heejin, and she's been commenting on my photos and messaging me on Instagram lately."_

 

_"Uh, okay," Jungeun studies Heejin's selfie with a look of concentration on her face._

 

_"So, what do you think of her?"_

 

_"She's really pretty. She looks like she was born to be an idol. You should meet her," Jungeun replies with a small smile._

 

_"Meet her?" Jiwoo glares at her. "But she's like a complete stranger!"_

 

_"Yeah, meet her and then introduce her to me. She's like the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life," Jungeun tells her matter-of-factly, and now Jiwoo can't tell if she's joking or being serious, or neither of those._

 

_Jiwoo really wants to curse. She doesn't know how to._

 

_They leave for burgers instead, the topic dropped and forgotten about._

 

 

 

As they leave the cafe, Joowon gives her final verdict.

 

"You know what? Just tell her. What do you have to lose? You're kind, super cute, pretty and really popular. Jungeun is a loser that sleeps at ten and wakes up at five to clean her room. And she threw away all of her roommate's socks by accident. She should be thanking you for liking her!" Joowon sounds uber encouraging, and that emboldens Jiwoo slightly.

 

"You really think so? Not the Jungeun being a loser bit, but everything else," Jiwoo adds. "But she probably doesn't think of me more than like, her best friend."

 

"Girl, you guys are like soulmates. Just make her realise that her heart pounds for you too. Or something."

 

Their heads turn in synchronisation, Etude House's blindingly pink storefront staring them in the face.

 

Here's a list of things Jiwoo needs:

 

And here's a list of things she bought:

  1. Mascara
  2. Red lipstick
  3. Foundation that matches her skin tone
  4. An eyebrow pencil
  5. And at the last minute, Joowon places a bottle of "life-shattering, otherwordly-smelling, god-tier and Jungeun-killing" perfume into her basket of things, making her purchase total up to almost a hundred dollars.



 

It doesn't burn too deep a hole in her pockets, thankfully. Jiwoo gets by comfortably by selling some of the lavish gifts (honestly, why would she ever need an Apple Watch?) she receives from the sleazy boys in the her school.

 

Too bad they haven't realised that she would never be interested in them. Oh well. More money for her to spend on trying to impress Jungeun!

 

 

That night, she takes Joowon's advice and posts a selfie with her newly bought make-up. She chooses one where she's throwing a finger heart and looking cute. The notifications stream in shortly after she posts it. She pretends not to hear Joowon's voice telling her to stop acting clingy as she scrolls through hundreds of them, trying to see if Jungeun 'liked' her photo.

 

The girl doesn't, and Jiwoo does the modern-day equivalent of setting herself up for an execution on the guillotine-- she types in Jungeun's username into her searchbar.

 

7 minutes ago

@k_jungeun : just ate dinner. need sleep

 

_This jackass didn't like my photo and posted one of her own!_

 

The photo is badly lit, the angle is unflattering, and Jungeun still looks frustratingly good. Her brown hair and brown eyes stand out even in the worst of photos, and Jiwoo can't help but think back to _The Incident_.

 

The second-hand embarrassment kicks in again. She almost gets a stroke from how hard she kicks the blankets off her bed, this time.

 

 

-

 

 

Jiwoo washes off the last of her make-up with the running water, and groans in annoyance. Great, now her blouse is soaking wet and she can't sit through classes without feeling all icky.

 

Record scratch, freeze frame. You're probably wondering how Jiwoo got into this situation. Let's rewind.

 

 

 

_Jiwoo feels like she's glowing. She knows the comments on her photos always go somewhere along the lines of "you're the human embodiment of the sun", but she's never really felt it until today, you know?_

 

_Her carefully applied mascara and lipstick gives her the confidence of a million lifetimes, and she quite literally skips her way to school._

 

_And then she also, quite literally, gets dragged away by her homeroom teacher at the gate._

 

_Okay, so she had conveniently forgotten that one of the most enforced school rules was the no make-up rule. Sue her. Miss Jung forces her to wash off everything and threatens to award her demerit points if she doesn't. Also, the teacher gives her a wink and a "good luck! I hope you impress them still, whoever they are", causing her to trip over air, because how they hell did Miss Jung Jinsoul know she was doing just that?_

 

_"I did a lot of that in my school days. Just use your words, Jiwoo. It always works better like that."_

 

_Jiwoo contemplates it for exactly five seconds, and then gets to work washing the make-up off her face._

 

 

 

 

"Joowon, I need your PE shirt if you have it."

 

"Well I don't have it."

 

"Get it from Yerim or something, dimwit, I need a shirt."

 

"..."

 

"Alright, I'm sorry for calling you a dimwit, now can you please get me a shirt?"

 

"Jungeun brought hers-"

 

"DO NOT ASK HER-"

 

"Yeah I won't, dumbass. Where are you? I'm on my way."

 

Yerim's shirt does fit a little too snugly on her, no thanks to her extremely specific and tight-fitting fashion choices.

 

Fashion or not, Yerim's shirt stinks like old cheese; apparently it had been hanging out in her locker for months now. Jiwoo's starting to regret not asking for Jungeun's shirt instead. She imagines it must smell good, like the girl does.

 

_Woah, way too gay. Take a step back Kim Jiwoo._

 

"Yo, put on the perfume you bought. That's not against the rules," Joowon tells her.

 

"Oh right!" Jiwoo retrieves the little bottle out of her bag and pumps it twice, making sure to get it on her shirt as well, where it stinks most.

 

(Jungeun doesn't notice. Of course she doesn't notice. The girl had stood up, made a show about sniffing the air, and then excitedly threw her hands up, proclaiming, "it's burgers for lunch today again!"

 

Jiwoo only has herself to blame for ever finding an idiot like her attractive. _Like, for god's sake, she sleeps at ten! Who does that?)_

 

Jiwoo leaves the school compound once the bell rings, wanting to be left alone.

 

_Okay, I'm giving myself five days to get over that dumbheaded ass-_

 

"Kim Jiwoo!"

 

_Shit!_

 

Jungeun catches up to her, colliding into her body slightly, laughing. "I knew you'd be here. I ran out to catch you."

 

"You're not going for the extra lessons either?" Jiwoo tries her best not to stutter. The sense of deja vu is almost overwhelming-- the warm orange streetlight illuminating Jungeun's face, reflecting in her brown, brown eyes.

 

_Five days? That's overly optimistic of me..._

 

"Nah, I'm not feeling it today," Jungeun continues, beaming at Jiwoo. "Besides, you're not going either."

 

The bus arrives before Jiwoo can reply, but it wasn't like she would have been able to think of one either.

 

It's weird. They used to be able to sit pressed up next to each other, lean their heads on each other's shoulders, hold hands and everything. Now Jiwoo can't even look at Jungeun properly for too long. It is weird. Jiwoo clears her throat when Jungeun takes the seat next to her at the back of the bus.

 

They sit in silence for a while, Jiwoo not daring to make conversation, and Jungeun probably too tired to even notice.

 

"Jiwoo, are you sick?" Jungeun asks with her sleepy voice. She's resting her head against the window to her left, staring out at the window. Jiwoo trains her eyes on the back if her head, her voice uncertain when she answers no.

 

Jiwoo isn't sick, but she sure feels like she is.

 

"Well, I might be lovesick."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I like someone," Jiwoo says, looking everywhere but Jungeun. She knows the girl is now staring. "But I don't know what they feel about me."

 

There's a slightly awkward pause before Jungeun replies. "Well is she nice to you?"

 

"She is. She _really_ is," Jiwoo continues. "I was an idiot, because I never noticed how much I liked her until a few days ago. She's pretty, she's very dense, but she's also very sweet. We've been friends for a long time. She sang to me, and I freaked out and ran away. Probably shouldn't have done that-"

 

Jungeun sits up and turns to her. Jiwoo expects her to say something romantic in light of her confession. Not "wait, _I'm_ the one who's dense?!" and a look of utter annoyance on Jungeun's face.

 

"Yeah dumbass, I wore perfume for you and everything and all you talk about is burgers!" She defends herself.

 

"Jiwoo, oh my fucking god," Jungeun says with a sigh, pinching her nose bridge. "I've literally been in love with you for three years."

 

Record scratch. Freeze frame. You're probably wondering how Jiwoo and Jungeun got into this situation. Let's rewind.

 

 

 

 

_"Kim Jiwoo!"_

 

_Jungeun sees a girl turn at the mention of her name. The girls squeals, wrapping her friend in a hug. She gets the impression that that Jiwoo girl is loud, bubbly and affectionate. Probably going to be one of the popular ones in their school._

 

_But it's not like she would know who was part of the popular crowd. In middle school she was kind of a loser; always hanging out with the upperclassmen instead of her own classmates, and eating lunch by herself. High school was probably the same shit, all over again._

 

_The girl and her friend turn out to be her classmates. With another two girls probably from their middle school, they form a friend group that just exudes popularity. They were pretty girls._

 

_Honestly, Jungeun doesn't mind. What she does mind is Jiwoo sitting at her table during lunch a few days into their first week at school._

 

_Nobody ever sits at her table. Jungeun doesn't smile at her, just stares._

 

_"Hey, Jungeun. I heard you're from Cheongju," Jiwoo extends a hand. Jungeun shakes it hesitantly, not knowing what her hometown had to do with anything. "I'm from Cheongju too! We should be friends."_

 

_They hit it off pretty well, and Jungeun is surprised that she actually doesn't despise the girl. She finds out Jiwoo's longtime childhood dream was to become a grape farmer, and chuckled so hard that she nearly fell out of her seat._

 

_"You don't get to laugh at me! You wanted to be a flight attendant. That's like- okay no, that is a perfectly normal choice of profession. But so is grape farming!"_

 

_It's not long before Jiwoo invites the rest of her friends over. She learns their names, and in a few days' time, figures out their quirks._

 

_Lee Joowon. Impossibly louder than Jiwoo. Strangely, gives great advice._

 

_Kim Yerim. Calls herself Katie Kim and tries to fool anyone she meets at first that she's British. Only three people had ever fallen for that: Jiwoo, Joowon, and Yeonjung, in that exact order._

 

_Yoo Yeonjung. Sings really well. The girls hate going to karaoke with her because she never puts down the microphone. Exaggerates everything._

 

_And Kim Jiwoo. Maybe it has something to do with her approaching Jungeun first and wanting to be friends. She's instantly likeable, and has made Jungeun cry in laughter more than once. Perhaps, Jungeun appreciates her company more than she thinks._

 

_They hang out more and more, and Jungeun becomes part of their friend group, inexplicably. She should have seen it coming. Jiwoo and her were starting to get closer as friends._

 

_Everything is ruined when she reaches a realisation near the middle of her first year. And when she says everything, she means everything: her future, her relationship with her parents, her friendship with the boys she used to date, her friends now, Jiwoo-_

 

_She finds out that she's gay._

 

_And she might like Jiwoo, more than she knows._

 

_Feelings are hard to evade, even though she has completely mastered the art of hiding any unwanted emotion. Felt hurt when your friends joked about your overly stoic facade? Just laugh it off and pretend you're fine! Felt guilty for ditching your friend group to go home and sleep? Just pretend you're too cool to apologise and ignore their clear signs of disappointment! Think you might be in love with Kim Jiwoo?_

 

_Great! Now just smile at her and talk to her normally as if you don't feel like combusting every time she intertwines your hands together or comes too close!_

 

_Resident weirdo Yerim finds out fast enough. And by fast enough she means late into their first year. Apparently she could decipher from the shakiness in Jungeun's eyes when Jiwoo whispers in her ear, her hesitance to let Jiwoo try any food that looks like it could be bad, andher willingness to do anything as long as Jiwoo asked, that Jungeun was three levels too deep in love with her._

 

_"I have so many questions. One, why are you such a weirdo? Two, who raised you to become like that? Three, are you actually British? Four, so what if you're right?"_

 

_"Childhood trauma I probably don't remember. My parents and my babysitter Seulgi who was also my neighbour. On all levels except physical, yes, I am British. And so what if I'm right? I'm going to help you get the girl!"_

 

_Yerim keeps her promise, and tries her best to set them up whenever she can. It becomes a thing for them to go for karaoke._

 

_Just the three of them. Yeonjung is banned because she doesn't ever let go of the mic, and Joowon is just banned from the karaoke place after she caused mass infrastructure damage in the place when she accidentally went too hard on Kim Young Chul's Ring Ring._

 

_Confessions are for brave people who don't fear rejection, and also people who have had their feelings reciprocated. Jungeun is exactly none of those things. Instead, she finds solace the lyrics of others._

 

_Over the years she has sang a myriad of songs to drop hints whenever she can._

 

_Jason Mraz's 'Lucky'. Paul Kim's 'Wanna Love You'. Day6's 'When You Love Someone'._

 

_Sometimes she sings to Jiwoo, not directly, of course. But the intention is there. Other times she sings them to herself. One time, she had sung the Goblin OST so sadly that Yerim had to excuse herself because "nobody has seen me cry in ten years and I'm not going to let that change!". Jiwoo however, had beamed at her and complimented her singing._

 

_"I really liked when you bent that note. It made the song sound so much nicer!"_

 

_"Yeah, that was exactly what I was going for with that song," Jungeun replies with a tired smile. She ignores the frustration bubbling in her chest. "Right on the money, Jiwooming."_

 

_Jiwoo picks CLC's 'Dear My Friend' to sing next of all songs. She joins in the chorus with much pain, but only because come on, it's CLC!_

 

_Yerim manages to set them up on more dates. She would ask them out to sing, and then ditch them with some lame excuse so that they could have time together. Jungeun's somewhat thankful for that, of course, but she always leaves the dates more confused than anything, because Jiwoo doesn't read anything into the hand-holding, Jungeun paying for her food, their touchy bus rides home together. Absolutely nothing._

 

_"What do you think of Minhyuk? You guys look good together."_

 

_Jungeun had choked on the water she was drinking. "Minhyuk?! Jiwoo, I'm GAY."_

 

_"Oh, word? Me too."_

 

_It takes all of her energy to one, not deck Jiwoo in the face and two, not slam her own head on the nearest available wall._

 

_When their unimpressive second year ends, Jungeun mentally adds "ask Jiwoo out on a real date" to her New Year's resolutions. Over the past two years she had learnt to come out of her own shell, become her own person, and speak her mind more often. It's no thanks to her friends that she's more confident than she used to be. She stills sleeps at ten though, like a loser, but at least now she's self-aware and indifferent to the opinions of others._

 

_She's determined. She will strike off that resolution by the end of the year._

 

_Two months in, and no progress. Yerim only laughs at her futile attempts now, because how dense is Jiwoo? The girl probably thought Jungeun wanted to switch ties with her out of pure and innocent fun when in fact Jungeun only did it so she could have a picture-worthy moment of her fixing Jiwoo's tie. It was picture-worthy though, however staged it was. (Jungeun had specifically asked Yerim to get her cameras ready for the moment. Don't tell Jiwoo.) Jungeun immortalises it by posting it on Instagram to her 210 followers, and Jiwoo posts a bunch of their ugly selfies on her account with 67000 followers._

 

_33 minutes ago_

_@jiwooming: to my best best best best best best best friend ever i love you! thanks for always being there for me. i love your beautiful voice when you sing. don't sleep too early tonight dongdongie_

 

_"Seven 'best's. Wow, she really did a number on you with that one didn't she?"_

 

_"Tell me about it," Jungeun grumbled, hitting her head on the table._

 

_A few months go by, and things are about the same. Just that they don't sing as much now, with homework piling up and everything._

 

_They take their last school examination before the college entrance examinations in October. When it's over, they celebrate with a trip to the karaoke place. Yeonjung and Joowon's bans were finally removed, but unfortunately they both had to go for extra lessons for 'extra help'. Jiwoo jokes that they were chosen because of how extra they usually were._

 

_And so, it was the three of them again. Same old, same old._

 

_Paper Hearts comes on, and it's usually Jiwoo's song. But that day, when they both reached for it, Jiwoo had refused the microphone._

 

_Heck, there's nothing to lose._

 

_It takes all of her limited courage to turn and sing to Jiwoo, for the first time ever._

 

_Her eye contact doesn't waver when she sings. Jungeun has visualised this happening for a while now- the day she'd finally have the guts to sing to the girl she's loved for three years._

 

_With the soft orange light of the dingy room illuminating her face, Jiwoo looks really, really, really pretty._

 

_I hate this part, paper hearts_

 

_Her eyes were focused on Jiwoo, and Jiwoo only. The way she had looked away from the eye contact for just a split second was adorable. Was she feeling shy?_

 

_And I'll hold a piece of yours_

 

_And that's when Jiwoo gets up to leave, murmuring something about her brother and all._

 

_The same feelings of frustration and resignation resurface as she sits back down onto the sofa. Yerim gives her a hug, and they sing Air Supply songs until sundown._

 

_(It went a little like this: "I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you, I know you were- URRRRGGGGHHHHHH KIM JIWOO! FUCK!")_

 

_Jiwoo starts acting weird and evasive as the days pass. She would squeak instead of reciprocating Jungeun's hugs, skip lunch with the group to go off to god-knows-where, and also refuse to go to the nurse's when she was clearly sick. What else could explain why Jiwoo was always so flushed and looking tired?_

 

_It doesn't help that Jungeun messed up, either. Jiwoo had showed her a picture of this breathtaking girl called Heejin and instead of downplaying her greatest threat yet, she outrightly supports Jiwoo to meet with her. Who does that? Who fucking does that?_

 

_52 seconds ago_

_@jiwooming: etude house haul! particularly loving the lipstick i have on_

 

_"God, what the fuck are you so pretty for?" Jungeun had whined into her pillow. She forgets to even press a 'like' on the photo._

 

_Now, Jungeun wakes up with her blanket on the floor more often than not. It has nothing to do with her terrible sleeping habits, and a lot to do with her kicking her blanket off her bed when she's thinking about her most embarrassing moments in front of Jiwoo._

 

_And then that happened._

 

_God, the perfume. That cursed perfume._

 

_She doesn't sleep the entirety of that night, thinking about Jiwoo, Jiwoo, Jiwoo, god that fucking perfume, Jiwoo, Jiwoo, Jiwoo, why the hell did I talk about burgers instead, Jiwoo, Jiwoo, Jiwoo._

 

_And now this. A confession._

 

 

 

"KIM JUNGEUN! You what- you? And me? I like you and you like... ME?"

 

"Yes you," Jungeun's expression softens when she looks at her. Jiwoo still looks nonplussed, and Jungeun can't help but laugh. "Three years, you dumb fivehead. Three years."

 

Perhaps she's making up for lost time, or perhaps she's saying sorry for all the times she's caused Jungeun grief. When Jiwoo _finally_ kisses her, it tastes of strawberries and the vanilla ice cream she had earlier, and its as fervent and desperate as Jungeun feels.

 

They almost miss their stop. Jungeun walks her all the way home, and kisses Jiwoo sweetly against the door to her house.

 

"Goodnight Jiwoo," Jungeun had whispered, pressing another kiss on her cheek.

 

Jiwoo doesn't sleep for a whole night.

 

_-_

 

 

It's finally the day of their graduation. Jungeun openly fixes Jiwoo's ribbon tie, perhaps a step closer than necessary. But it's a convenient spot for Jiwoo to press a quick chaste kiss on her lips, so she's not complaining.

 

"Unpopular opinion, but I'm really glad you guys only confessed to each other after three years. I don't think I could have put up with that every single day," Yeonjung points out, shaking her head at the couple, now standing side-by-side with their arms around each other's waist.

 

"Oh man, you gotta thank Jiwoo for that one. I have nobody to thank. I've suffered enough," Yerim says, throwing a not-so-subtle dirty look Jungeun's way.

 

"Thanks Yerim," Jungeun adds with a grin. "To be honest, you were the only person among us that I've ever respected."

 

Jiwoo slaps her on the arm for that one, and she makes it up with another kiss.

 

"Kim Jiwoo! I don't get any thanks from you?" Joowon protests, to which they all laugh.

 

This isn't their happy ending. This is just the beginning.

 

 

-

 

 

(Yerim watches Yeonjung closely.

 

She sees the way her eyes drop whenever Joowon gets too close, looking everywhere but her. Then, Joowon tries to eat a potato chip off the floor, which gets intercepted by Yeonjung. When Joowon asks if anyone could go to the scary bathroom with her, Yeonjung volunteers in a split second.

 

All the signs...

 

_Fuck! Not this again!)_

**Author's Note:**

> wrote this for jiwoo day but im a few days late oops. shameless clc plug in the middle but yeah i think everyone should stan clc for a better life. 
> 
> (please leave some comments i'm starving and i have 12 kids to feed)
> 
> talk to me!  
> twt: @2jinverse


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